Salmon farming centre. (Photo: Stock File)

Biobío towns reject 15 salmon project development

CHILE
Thursday, August 16, 2018, 21:50 (GMT + 9)

The mayors of seven towns of Concepción Province -- Coronel, Hualpén, San Pedro de la Paz, Talcahuano, Lota, Tomé and Penco--, have expressed their opposition to the plans to install at least 15 salmon farming projects in the Biobío region, reason why they are considering legal actions.

The legal actions to stop the initiatives are being led by the mayors of Coronel, Boris Chamorro; from Hualpén, Katherine Torres; and of San Pedro de la Paz, Audito Retamal.

"There is a project of salmon companies that will be installed in front of our coasts in San Pedro de la Paz or south of the Biobío region, but we also have information that this is one of 15 that will be installed around this sector. The installation of these salmon farms will have a series of contraventions," Mayor Retamal told Cooperativa.cl.

For her part, Mayor Torres said that officials of the town of Huaplén have already met with all the artisanal fishermen's unions, with the representative of the Federation of Artisanal Fishermen (FEREPA), and other meetings have taken place with the Coastal Border Committee to analyze this topic.

"We see that there are no direct benefits for our community, moreover, the marine ecosystem that today forms part of our town is affected," said the head of the town.

In Coronel, social organizations and Mayor Chamorro made presentations in the Environmental Assessment Service in rejection of the salmon farming projects on the coasts of the Bío Bío region, adding to the offensive carried out by the other towns that oppose this type of activity.

“In this town, it is considered that the arrival of salmon farming centres will have disastrous impacts on the activity of the fishermen. Most of the projects would be located in the vicinity of Isla Santa María, whose inhabitants are willing to take whatever action is necessary to prevent the arrival of these salmon farms,” said Manuel Nuñez, fisherman leader of Isla Santa María.

In the town of Tomé, in particular, there are plans to install a centre for salmon fattening to the southwest and another northwest of the coasts of Los Morros sector, where a total of 34 cages would be installed to produce some 9,500 tonnes per production cycle.

"We do not want the Bío Bío Region to become a landfill of the salmon farms in a couple of years," said Sara Garrido, president of the Coliumo seaweed producers’ union (Tomé) and also general secretary of the National Artisanal Fishermen's Confederation (CONAPACH).

So far, 15 environmental impact statements have been submitted to the Environmental Assessment Service of the Biobío region, in the towns of Coronel, Tomé, Hualpén and San Pedro de la Paz. Together, these projects involve an investment of USD 42 million.

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